Poison Pen
Chapter 46
It's really pretty here," Kate remarks as she and Castle follow a path through a small park to the museum.
"It is," Castle agrees. "Alexis and I were here a lot when she was younger. We'd visit the museum almost every weekend. Sometimes we'd bring a Frisbee to throw around, but the dogs that people walk here were better at catching it than I was. I had to buy a few new ones when the pooches didn't want to give up their new toys."
"You must know the museum pretty well," Kate assumes.
"Not as well as I did. If Alexis wants to go to the museum now, all she has to do is hop on a train. She'll come with Paige, and more recently, Owen. I am a patron, so I get the good tours and invitations to the lectures." Fun flickers in Castle's eyes. "Last year I went to one on mummies. Very cool. A Stanford Oakes gave it. He's in charge of the archaeology department here."
"Wouldn't Will Medina have worked for Oakes?" Kate wonders.
"Probably, unless he's a visiting fellow or something. Even then, they'd have to coordinate their projects."
Kate nods. "Good. Let's go talk to Oakes."
"I didn't know Medina that well outside of our professional relationship," Oakes insists. "He made a name for himself when he discovered mummies on the Yucatan Peninsula. He was working on an exhibit highlighting his finds. It's scheduled to open next week. I thought the way he was putting it together was a bit sensationalized, but the Board was high on his ideas, so I left the details to him."
"Which exhibit?" Castle asks.
Oakes indicates a screened area. "The one in there. He said it was just about complete."
"Did Medina have any friends here?" Kate questions. "Was he seeing anyone?"
"As far as I could tell, Will was a loner. And we discourage dating among the staff," Oakes adds. "It can result in awkward situations, especially during fieldwork."
"Was anyone working with Medina?" Kate presses.
Oakes shrugs. "Rachel Walters occasionally did. She's our in-house expert on the preservation of artifacts."
"I need to talk to her," Kate declares.
She's in a lab in the basement. That's off-limits to the lay public. But I'll have her paged, and you can wait for her here."
Kate nods. "We'd appreciate that." Rick scowls as Oakes walks off. "What's the matter, Castle?"
"I've always wanted to see the basement. There's supposed to be over a hundred years of acquisitions down there, everything from arrowheads to dinosaur bones. I was hoping this case would give me an in."
Kate pats his shoulder. "Sorry about that, Babe"
Castle's eyebrows ripple mischievously. "We should check out the exhibit Medina was setting up. Maybe there's a clue."
"And you want to see the mummies."
"That too," Castle admits.
As Rick and Kate slip behind the screens, soft, spooky music reminiscent of the soundtrack of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," floats down from a speaker on the wall.
Rick glances around. "Either the mummies know we're here, or we triggered a sensor."
"I'd bet on the second option," Kate responds.
Rick points to a beat-up sable fedora hanging on the wall next to hand tools and brushes. "I wonder if Medina wore that on his expedition? How do you think I'd look in a hat like that?"
"Very dashing. Costume for your next con?"
"I was thinking more like Halloween, but one in better shape would be great for a mystery dinner too. Very forties." Rick holds an imaginary cigarette in a Bogart grip, pointing it at Kate. "I've been looking for you all my life, Doll."
A woman in a lab coat pops her head behind the screen. "Are you the police?"
Kate holds up her badge. "I'm the police. Mr. Castle is a civilian consultant. Are you Rachel Walters?"
"Yes. Dr. Oakes said you wanted to see me about Will Medina. Did something happen to him?"
"I'm sorry to tell you. Ms. Walters," Kate replies gently, "Will Medina is dead."
Rachel stuffs her fist in her mouth. "Oh, no! What happened?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Kate explains. "Dr. Oakes said you worked with Medina. Can you think of anyone who might want to harm him?"
"Um, I didn't know him that well. As Dr. Oakes told you, we collaborated. But archaeology can be a jealous field. Will was rising quickly, ahead of some colleagues who've been at it for decades longer. There may have been people who resented him. And then there was the warning he received to return the artifacts he found or face a deadly curse. It was written in Ancient Mayan. Not many people could have sent it. Will was one of the few who could translate the pictograms."
"How about Dr. Oakes? Could he translate them?" Castle inquires.
"I don't know," Rachel admits. "I suppose so, but it doesn't matter. Will could understand them, but he thought the warning was a prank and didn't take it seriously."
"Who would?" Castle wonders. "A curse? Come on!"
"Some archaeologists would believe they had reason to worry, Mr. Castle," Rachel insists. "Consider what happened to Howard Carter and the others involved with the discovery of King Tut."
"I know the story. Carter died of Hodgkin's lymphoma. That disease is a curse on humanity, but most of its victims have never been near a mummy," Castle argues.
"Ms. Walters, the N.Y.P.D. doesn't deal in the supernatural," Kate inserts. "Would there be a list somewhere of experts in the Ancient Mayan language?"
"You could try the Archaeologist's Society," Rachel suggests. "They have an office downtown and keep profiles on their members."
"Thanks," Kate acknowledges. "We'll do that."
"Was it my imagination, or did Ms. Walters seem more upset than one would be over the death of a colleague one barely knows?" Castle mulls, as Rachel returns to her work.
"It wasn't your imagination," Kate declares, "and the shoes Rachel is wearing look like a seven and a half medium."
"The same size I found under the bed in Will Medina's apartment," Castle notes. "So the question is, did Rachel lie about her relationship with Will because the museum would frown upon it, or did she have a more insidious reason."
"That's what we're going to find out, Castle. And as long as we're dropping in on the Archaeologists Society, we can check the profiles of Rachel Walters, Stanford Oakes, and the rest of their colleagues at the museum."
Kate points to a catering truck pulling up to the museum as she and Rick are leaving. "Do they hold parties here?"
"All kinds of functions. People plunk down their money to dine amid the wonders of the pre-modern world. It's a decent stream of income for the museum. I once arranged a birthday celebration for Alexis in the Hall of Evolution. Her giggling guests spent almost the entire time discussing when the boys would catch up to the girls and make it beyond the caveman stage."
Kate thoughtfully presses two fingers to her lips. "I'll admit that I've often wondered about that myself. What was their conclusion?"
"That if the boys ever did catch up, the girls would already be evolved beyond them," Castle replies. "At the time, however, the young ladies had yet to reach puberty. Their opinions probably changed."
Kate bumps her hip against Rick's. "I wouldn't put money on it, Babe."